


staying silent

by shinsouaizawa



Series: green & yellow [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Baratie (One Piece), Eventual Roronoa Zoro/Vinsmoke Sanji, Hurt Vinsmoke Sanji, Hurt/Comfort, Injured Vinsmoke Sanji, LGBTQ Character, M/M, Protective Roronoa Zoro
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:01:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25735459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinsouaizawa/pseuds/shinsouaizawa
Summary: Sanji was ten when he had his first crush.
Relationships: Roronoa Zoro/Vinsmoke Sanji
Series: green & yellow [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1905427
Comments: 6
Kudos: 242





	staying silent

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on tumblr @finral

Sanji was ten when he had his first crush.

The crush in question was the son of two regular customers of the Baratie. The young cook couldn't help the blush that would colour his cheeks when the boy smiled at him.

It wasn’t until a later of visit of theirs when everything took a turn for the worst. One heart shaped piping inside the bun of the burger later and Sanji found himself held by the scruff of his collar by a furious Mr. Boulangie.

His eye was throbbing from the punch which had landed a few seconds earlier and Sanji found that he could do nothing more than dangle in the air as he attempted to kick against the hold without much luck.

Zeff and the other chefs rushed from the kitchens looking for blood soon after and the family were thrown out with the orders to never step foot in the restaurant again.

Sanji would never forget the look of disgust directed at him by the son as he’d passed or the way that the other chefs had simply laughed off the accusations thrown around by the father. He couldn’t shake the feeling though that there was something wrong with him because Zeff said boys weren’t supposed to like other boys, so why did he?

So Sanji just decided to stay silent.

* * *

As his teenage years arrived the young cook had truly grown into his good looks. Having found himself with more freedom and the agency to go to land a couple of times a week to shop on shore at the market, the world seemed his for the taking.

He’d already had his first kiss with the boy whose father owned the fish stall on the island, the two of them sneaking away to the beach whenever he came to shore. They were always careful to not get caught but Sanji was willing to take the risk for the warm feeling in his heart that he felt with Ren.

And then Ren stopped showing up.

He’d asked around the island but all he received were glares as they walked on. The fish stall was gone too.

He never went to that market again.

* * *

His fifteenth year of life saw everything go to shit after his fellow chefs at the Baratie caught him and the son of a customer sitting on the upper deck of the ship kissing.

They quickly and rudely demanded the kid to leave before shaking Sanji down. Lectures about how disappointed Zeff would be, and how selfish he was for doing something like that to the old man after everything he'd done for him over the years followed.

In the end they didn't tell Zeff just what had happened but it didn't matter, Sanji felt like he was drowning in the feeling of isolation surrounding him and his mental health was slowly but surely getting worse with each day that passed.

Desperate to get the other chefs to talk to him again he flirted with girls hoping that he could change. It turned out that it just made him feel like crap but the chefs seemed happy and actively encouraged it, with Sanji finding himself as the assigned waiter of tables full of girls.

But he wasn’t attracted to them and he was never going to be.

The genuine smile on Zeff’s face as he played pretend hurt more than a stab wound.

* * *

Seventeen saw him going missing for two weeks.

The chefs ended up finding him washed up on the shore of a nearby island, his wrists bound behind his back and half-drowned. How he wasn't dead was a miracle Zeff didn't want to bear questioning, the old man just being thankful to have him back alive and vaguely in one piece.

As expected the crew of the Baratie wanted names but none of them got their answer. Instead any time one of them attempted to ask about what had happened in those two weeks Sanji would either clam up or throw up so in the end they decide for his own sake to drop the line of questioning all together.

It wouldn't be until a few months later when a band of pirates arrived at the Baratie that everything would come to a head. They looked like trouble from the second they waltzed through the door but it was the sudden paleness of Sanji's face that gave the clearest picture of just who the low-lives were.

Purely due to a lack of waiting staff to illness the young cook was ultimately given their table to serve. As he presented the food to them Sanji's hands shook causing the Captain to smirk.

"Did you make this?"

"I-."

He picked up the plate and tipped the food onto the floor.

Sanji's eyes widened.

"I don't want your faggot food." The captain announced.

The other pirates began to pull faces, disgusted by the concept as they too discarded their own food.

Looking around the restaurant it was apparent that the other customers had taken notice, a large majority of them glancing between him and their food, some of them even going as far to push their plates away from themselves across the table.

The rage of seeing so much food wasted was doused however by the pounding of his heart as he remained in the proximity of his former captors.

Zeff arrived on the scene along with his crew and kicked their asses shortly after and if Sanji was scared before he was absolutely terrified now. He waited to hear the words he’d been expecting for years, the ones that would see him lose the only family he’d ever had.

But they didn't come.

What followed wasn't full acceptance, pretty far from it if Sanji was honest. Zeff ended up spending most of the time stating how he 'doesn't really understand it' and that 'it would probably be best if he tried to keep it to himself' but he didn't have to leave and the old man still seemed to care about him so he took it for what it is and continued on.

The other chefs however were far less on board than Zeff but none of them dared to voice their thoughts in fear of how the boss would respond if they did.

* * *

When he met Luffy and his skeleton crew Sanji was reluctant to join them at first and not just for the reason of his loyalty to Zeff. He knew from Zeff and his own experiences how unwelcoming the seas could be towards those who are different and he wasn't sure the kid currently begging him to join would be as eager for him to join if he knew.

For a start the crew member he did have was male and he knew there was always a chance that he could protest sharing living quarters with 'someone like him'. Why wouldn't he?

In the years since the pirate crew outed him there had been many a customer who'd clearly heard through the grapevine about him and were less than accepting of his service because of it. It had bothered him at first but soon after he'd truly stopped caring and instead just imposed an extra tip on the fuckwits for their asshole behaviour towards him.

Zeff hadn’t been pleased but Sanji didn't care. He also didn't care about the women the old man would purposely introduce him to at the restaurant, claiming he needed to check on soups and orders to escape whenever the encounters occurred. It hurt but he knew there was nothing he could do.

Eventually giving in and deciding to join Luffy's crew Sanji took to the seas as the new chef of the Merry.

And then he met a green-haired swordsman who was also on board.

Covered in bandages and attempting to hide a limp which had him wincing with every step the man was truly a sorry sight to behold.

For reasons unbeknown to him Zoro had been unconscious the past few days but the other crew members had assured him the swordsman would make a full recovery.

Sanji had also came to realise that it wasn't an entirely male crew when he'd first bumped into Nami. He could only apologise as he recieved grief in return for not looking where he was going.

And with painful introductions out of the way he'd got to work in his new position as the ship's cook.

Sanji was meticulous in the role, being sure to get to know the palettes and tastes of each of the crew, asking them about any improvements or elements they hadn't liked about the dishes.

He would be lying if he said that conversation came easy between him and the other Straw Hats as if the other crew members felt forced to talk to him. They seemed to like his food though which was something at least.

He'd found an empty notebook with the word 'Recipes' on the cover stored away in one of the cupboards. He'd soon put to use writing down any hints he'd recieved from listening to his fellow crew mates about their favourite dishes. As for Luffy though his entry so far simply read 'Meat'.

Flash forward the whole saga with the fishmen and Nami and the five of them had seemed to become closer. The others were thankful for how he'd risked his life to save Luffy from drowning but he'd hushed this praise, instead reminding them that they'd all been pretty beaten up from various goals.

With no medic on board and years of experience in tending to cuts in the kitchen Sanji had insisted on treating the wound on Nami's arm, the one which had been self-inflicted as she'd 'killed' Usopp.

With neither of them having spoken much since he'd joined their crew she initially attempted to play the wound off as nothing but he had persisted, guiding her to sit by the railing as he cleaned and re-dressed her arm.

"Thanks." Nami had stated simply before heading off to continue navigating but Sanji could tell progress had been made between them if even a little bit.

The next time they were in port the crew of the Going Merry had hit a bar. Sanji wasn't much of a drinker, not of beer anyway and certainly not the tail end quality dish water booze of a place like this.

The rest of them didn't seem to care though as they drank away merrily. Luffy however had elected for some kind of juice which from the colour he guessed to be pineapple.

A hand came to rest on his shoulder making him jump.

"I haven't seen you around here before."

The tall brunette slunk closer to him, sliding across the bench he was sat on to wrap her arm around him. To say he was uncomfortable would be an understatement.

"Such a pretty face." She rubbed his cheek softly with the backs of her fingers. "And those eyebrows..."

"Look I'm really sorry but I'm not interested." He tried to get up but the woman's hand came to death grip his wrist preventing him from escaping.

"You can't go; we haven't even had the chance to introduce ourselves."

"Take your hand off me or lose it."

Her eyes widened instantly but her expression only became more angered.

"Are you saying I'm ugly? That I'm not good enough for you?"

"No I'm not." He tried to dislodge her hand but her grip was just too strong. "Let go of me lady!"

"You come to this island, you recieve our best hospitality, our warmest welcome and then you insult me this way."

"I'm not insulting you I'm just not into women!" He growled, thankfully having kept his voice down despite his rage. Sanji's eyes widened in realisation of what he'd just carelessly revealed a few seconds before he fearfully turned back to the woman.

She looked just as shocked as he did, retracting her hand. The shock didn't last long though before the anger returned.

"Get out!" The woman screamed, pulling him by the wrist in a way that was sure to break it if she didn't relent. "Get out!" Her squawking tone had everyone in the bar looking at this point and he was sure his own crew mates would be among them as he was forcibly thrown to the gutter outside the establishment.

To top it all off she spat at him, the globule landing just shy of his leg on the cobbled pavement outside.

"Get on your ship and leave." And with that she made her way back inside.

"Dammit..."

Zoro, who had been watching the whole thing, hung close to the table the woman returned to as she ranted to a few others girls. She spoke of being disrespected by 'one of those people' and how sick she felt about it all.

He hadn't really felt like drinking anywhere.

Rounding up the crew he purposely allowed Sanji time to make it back to the ship and get cleaned up before traipsing them all back to set sail.

* * *

The months that followed were anything but uneventful but thankfully they didn't see Sanji receiving the same treatment he'd received in that awful town.

He couldn't help but notice how Sanji seemed to keep himself out of everyone's way by hiding in his kitchen or looking out to sea at the ship's rear.

It was as if he was avoiding them.

No, he always joined them whenever Luffy suggested a game of cards or to have a drink, and he was talkative during meals so it wasn't that he didn't want to.

So maybe he thought he wasn't welcome.

The strong tides came and with it Luffy's decision to take shelter from the storm on the closest inhabited island. It turned out to be a market town, which at least brought a smile to Sanji's face.

They spent a few days camped out in the only available room at the inn which proved to be a tight squeeze for the five of them but they managed.

The cook was gone when he'd awoken the next morning.

"He's probably in town at the market looking for food for yummy new recipes, or he's out flirting, Sanji's a real ladies man." Luffy chuckled.

_No he's not._

"I don't think he even came back last night so I think someone got lucky." Usopp raised his eyebrows to empathise what he was suggesting.

For Zoro however it only struck alarm bells.

He grabbed his swords before heading out. It was as he approached the town square that he first heard the sounds of a commotion.

A guy who seemed to be about their age looked horrified in front of the scrum of people gathered around.

Navigating his way through the crowd he finally was able to see what all the fuss was about and his anger rose immediately.

Sanji was on knees bound by thick cuffs behind his back with the chains bolting into the ground at the centre of the square. His bloody nose had trickled down his chin and neck.

"What were you doing to him?!" The girl shouted.

"I didn't do anything." The cook replied.

She turned to the guy.

"What happened Yuno, because if you did that too then they'll chain you up with him?"

Zoro noticed Sanji's fearful eyes widen.

"He didn't do anything, it was me, I came onto him even though he wasn't interested."

It was clearly a lie, Sanji not wanting the guy to have to take the fall too; damn selfless idiot.

"Is that true, Yuno?"

"Yes." The guy nodded quickly clearly glad for the easy out provided to him.

"You two..." A booming voice of authority spoke up. "...go home, leave this one to us."

He stepped closer to Sanji and Zoro felt his hand move to hover over his swords. The bearded man grabbed him by the hair pulling his head up to look him in the eye.

It was when Sanji's body was forced into a more upright position because of the grip that he noticed the bruises on his stomach as his shirt rose up. Someone had done a number on him.

_Time to step in._

"Hey!"

The bearded man turned to him.

"You're gonna' want to let go of my crew mate."

"Crew mate or not he's broken the law and shall receive the punishment for doing so."

"Which is?"

"Flogging, and once it’s over he can leave this island and never come back."

Zoro sharply inhaled at the declaration before pure rage took over.

"Like hell!"

"Restrain him." The man ordered.

He was suddenly swarmed by a group of men. Regardless of how much he fought and bucked their grip didn't relent.

"Get off him!" Sanji was in much the same position as he too was secured with two men pulling the chains out taut in front of him so that his back was almost flat.

The bearded man, who at this point he could only presume to be the Mayor, was handed a cat o' nine tails which looked even more barbaric than Zoro could ever have imagined.

"Ten strikes." The Mayor announced before promptly delivering one of them.

Sanji cried out instantly and it only got worse from there on out. Zoro begged and pleaded for them to stop but they didn't care, his crew mates wails breaking off as his throat protested.

And then it was over and the square was silent.

Two of the Mayor's men unlocked the chains but Sanji didn't move, remaining in the exact same position he'd been in during his torturous punishment.

"Now leave." The Mayor ordered walking off, the townspeople following.

And then it was just them.

Zoro rushed over and crouched down in front of the cook who from even just a quick glance was in a bad way.

His breathing was awful and he was damn near ready to collapse, how he was still holding onto consciousness Zoro would never know.

"Hey." He began softly, placing a hand on his crew mates’ cheek to gently guide his head up as he checked for any other damage but he found none.

"It hurts."

Zoro's eyes widened.

Sanji wasn't one to admit something like that, he'd found the chef to be incredibly headstrong and not one to bother his crew mates with his own issues or injuries which was why hearing such broken, pained words had him truly panicked.

"I- I need to get you back to the ship."

"I know." Sanji nodded, although he didn't seem too hyped with how they were going to achieve that.

"Can you walk? Come on, let's get you up."

Very very slowly he got the cook to his feet, wrapping his crew mate's arms over his shoulders to take his weight.

Sanji slumped down as his head couldn't support itself staying upright, coming to rest against him.

"Just hang in there, Sanji."

"Sanji!" Usopp's voice exclaimed in horror.

"Go get the others to the ship, NOW!"

His crew mate nodded determinedly and sprinted off.

It was hard not to hear the pained whimper Sanji had very clearly tried so desperately to mask.

"It's okay, we've got you, those fuckers aren't gonna' lay a finger on you again. Luffy's gonna' be pissed."

"If he even wants me on his ship-."

The reply was weak but there and Zoro couldn't wrap his head around it. Deciding not to question it he hurried on at as quick of a pace he could walk the cook without causing him anymore pain before they finally reached the Going Merry.

"Sanji!" Luffy exclaimed, obviously having made it back to the ship before them.

Zoro sat the cook down just shy of the railings so that they wouldn't touch his back.

"If everyone's here then set sail, now!"

The crew rushed off to follow the order.

Sanji tried to push himself up but failed miserably.

"What are you doing?"

"I need to help."

"Like hell, just... stay still."

The cook didn't look too pleased but didn't attempt to move again.

It was a long while of silence before his crew mate spoke up once again, only after significant distance had been placed between them and the island.

"The guy flirted with me. I knew it was stupid but he was cute so I took the risk. I forgot how backwards people are out here."

Sanji reached into his pocket and took out a cigarette before lighting it and taking a long drag.

Zoro furrowed an eyebrow.

"What did you mean back there, about if Luffy even still wanted you on his crew?"

The cook scoffed.

"What do you think?" Sanji growled.

"What, you think he's gonna' be angry that you're gay?"

Sanji seemed a little taken aback by how casually the swordsman had used the term.

“I’m not…”

The immediate defensiveness from the cook told Zoro that he obviously wasn’t comfortable discussing his sexuality which suggested that he’d either never been allowed to, or never had anyone he could talk about it with, maybe even both.

Sanji puffed out a small cloud of smoke before tilting his head back to rest it against the railing.

“Hey, curly?”

“I thought I told you _not_ to call me that?”

Zoro continued regardless.

“There’s nothing wrong with feeling that way you know? I don’t know if anyone’s ever told you that or not, but it isn’t something to be afraid or ashamed of.”

The cook stilled.

“I know people are dicks and they lash out at things they either don’t understand or don’t want to understand but that doesn’t mean you should have to hide yourself away just to please them. If you’re gay then you’re gay, you can go around telling as many or as few people as you want, but don’t feel like you have to be someone you’re not on our account. No one here is going to treat you any different, I promise.”

Sanji scoffed with a smile.

"I've learnt not to bother with optimism on that front..." His eyes motioned towards his back. "...from experience, but I suppose you morons have been good to me so far, and maybe it wouldn’t hurt to be a bit more honest.”

Zoro nodded with a soft smile.

"Hey Luffy!" He called.

Sanji's eyes widened before his expression turned furious.

"What are you doing?!"

"Yeah?"

Their Captain walked over, coming to a crouch beside the two of them.

"What did you say when I came out to you back when we first met?"

"That none of that matters on my ship because everyone's welcome." Luffy's words were accompanied by one of his signature grins. "Why d'you ask?"

"Eh no reason, just thought I'd share with our resident cook here how cool you are with that stuff."

"Oh okay." And with that Luffy was springing off.

Sanji seemed to have mental whiplash as his brain processed everything that had just happened.

"Wait, so you're..."

"Yeah."

"And he was fine with it?"

"Yep."

"Huh... so that’s why you made that whole speech about being fine here, you were speaking from experience." He nodded as he took another drag wincing a little as moving even the slightest amount pulled at the abused skin of his back.

"Be careful."

"No shit."

Zoro grumbled.

* * *

"Beach! Beach! Really pretty beach! Can we stop? Please! Please! Can we, can we, can we, Nami?" Begged Luffy.

"Ughhhhh fine." The navigator relented.

"Yayyyyyyyyy!"

~~~

Sanji smiled as he lit up a cigarette while walking across the truly breathtaking purple and blue sands of whatever the hell island Nami had said it was.

"Those things will kill you, you know."

Sanji scoffed.

"Do you know what else will kill me, Zoro, being a pirate, or having an extremely large bounty, or Luffy if I suddenly made the ship vegetarian."

The swordman chuckled as he took a seat on the sands removing his shirt.

"You wanna' sit?"

Sanji shrugged with a smirk before removing his suit jacket and shirt. Neatly folding them he placed them down as he joined his fellow crew mate.

Despite knowing it was none of his business he couldn't help but glance in the direction of Sanji's back.

Chopper's addition to the crew had clearly come at the right time and his treatments had done a good job of stopping some of the scarring. However, it would never be able to get rid of them completely and his back showed it. Crisscrossed raised red puffy lines decorated the cook each looking deeper and more painful than the last.

"Hey, moss head!"

Zoro's breath caught in his throat as he released he was busted.

"Sorry, I-."

Once again Sanji shrugged, taking a drag of his cigarette.

"It's fine, only hurts if someone cuts me with something, found that out the hard way."

The cook tried to smirk that last comment off but it didn't make the words any less concerning.

“So, I’ve been thinking.”

Sanji chuckled, flicking away his cigarette butt.

“That’s worrying.”

Zoro didn’t justify the comment with a response.

“Well, I thought that maybe…”

The cook rolled his eyes before closing the distance between the two of them, grabbing the swordsman by the neck of his shirt and pulling him forward so that their lips collided.

Zoro closed his eyes as he leaned in, hands coming to rest on Sanji’s cheeks, savouring the moment before they pulled away. He smiled.

“Is that what you wanted to ask, moron?”

He smirked.

“Don’t make it sound like it was a pity kiss.” Zoro teased.

Sanji laughed, throwing his head back.

“How the fuck did I not know you were gay?”

“You’re obviously very unobservant.”

* * *

**Six Months Later**

Arms full of goods, treasure, and food the latest outing of the Straw Hat Pirates had truly been a success. Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper were merrily singing sea shanties as they walked the path back towards the ship.

Nami and Robin were close behind sneaking a peak into the bags of gold they’d acquired on the island.

Zoro and Sanji had both offered to carry the newly claimed cargo but Luffy had already laid claim to the meat selection and the girls had delivered strong words at the idea of them taking the treasure so instead they had taken a step back to act as look outs at the back of the pack.

“They make us look like idiots.” Sanji scoffed.

“Yeah well at least we have food now; it’ll stop you whining about not having anything to cook.”

“It’s about damn time!”

They reached the dock soon after and once again they’d been relegated to guard duty overseeing the cargo.

It was then that Zoro threw a hand around Sanji’s waist and shoved him gently back to rest against the wall of the ship yard.

Sanji smirked with a smile, combing his fingers through his boyfriend’s hair.

“What’s all this in aid of?”

“Do I need a reason now?” Zoro teased, leaning down to kiss the cook’s neck.

“Stop it; we’ll never hear the end of it if they see you being cute like this.” He chuckled, playfully shoving him.

“So you think I’m cute?” The swordsman grinned with a cheeky smile.

"Maybe you should stop flirting with me and go help your Captain?"

"He's your Captain too."

“Yeah but you and Luffy are literally seventy-five percent of our strength, I’m just the cook.”

“I’d say seventy; your kicks are pretty good.” Zoro teased.

“Pretty good?!” Sanji’s voice protested in offence.

Zoro smirked, leaning in for another kiss.

“Hell no.” The cook shoved his hand into the swordsman’s face and pushed him back.

Luffy, Usopp, and Nami could be heard laughing by the gangplank.

“Denied!” Their Captain shouted.

“Shut up, Luffy!” Zoro grumpily replied.

The cook rolled his eyes, hurrying his pace a little to catch up to his boyfriend.

“Hey!”

He paused.

Sanji smirked before delivering a peck on the lips.

“Happy now?”

Zoro smiled, reaching out to take his hand, intertwining their fingers before heading off towards the ship ready to set sail.


End file.
